Chapter 9
Keara had conjured herself up a sweater to keep her warm in the colder temperature of the damp hallways and Sirius had insisted that she borrow his cloak as well when she started shivering even with the sweater. Sirius wasn't sure how long he and Keara had been wandering around, but they had added thirteen new passages and twenty-seven new rooms to the Map. One of the rooms, the one they were in at the moment, he assumed had to have been the one Filch always talked about; the one where they used to hang students from the ceiling or some other form of torture for detentions. That room had given Keara the willies as well as fascinated her. Another room seemed to be a storage room for potion ingredients, next to that one seemed to be Snape's quarters, which they decided to leave alone for now and explore later. He knew they must have been exploring for hours, but if anyone had asked he would have said it felt like mere minutes. They never realized that they had missed lunch. Nor did they realize that they had made the rest suspicious when they couldn't be found in the library and Madame Pince had said that they had never showed up.
"We should probably head back now. They'll start to worry about us soon," Keara whispered not really wanting to end her time alone with Sirius.
"Yeah, you're probably right," he agreed, but made no move to leave.
"Sirius?"
"Yeah?"
"The door's over there."
"I know."
"We should probably head that way."
"Yeah."
"Yeah," Keara smiled shyly. She really didn't have much experience with guys, but she was normally careful not to let anyone know that.
Sirius leaned down, kissed her gently, and smiled. "Good thing we got rid of the babysitter."
"Very good thing," she smiled back, kissed him and walked out the door. Sirius had no choice but to follow her.
~ * ~
"Where the hell is she?!" Dev was fuming. Keara hadn't turned up at lunch and neither had Sirius and dinner was supposed to start soon.
"Calm down, Dev," Diablo put his hand on Dev's shoulder only to have the shoulder be jerked away. "I'm sure she's okay. Sirius isn't out to hurt her."
"Oh, sure. He may not mean to hurt her but he will! She said that she was going to the Library. WELL, GUESS WHAT!! I was JUST there! Madame Pince said they were never there! I thought I told you to go with them!"
"I did."
"Then why did they never get to the library?" Dev growled.
"Because I left before they got there. Keara got on my nerves. I'm not her babysitter and I'm not your slave. I don't have to put up with her," Diablo retaliated and only managed to anger Dev further.
"I'm sure they'll turn up. They don't need a babysitter. Nor does your older sister need to tell you where she is every waking moment and who she's with. You are not her father," Zeta gave Dev a look that told him to act rationally or he'd make him.
"Sirius is my best friend, Dev. Use that as some consolation." James walked away praying that this behavior was out of character for the boy. Sirius sure knew the best ways to cause trouble. Unfortunately, James didn't think this trouble was a good thing. They needed to hurry up with this prank before Sirius got carried away and destroyed everything between Dev and Keara. They wanted to cause trouble, but that hadn't intended to tear people apart.
"I'm going to have a talk with her when she gets back," Dev muttered bitterly to himself.
"I'll see you at dinner, Dev. Hopefully you'll be in a better mood by then," Diablo took off after James and the rest of the gang and went down to the Great Hall to eat.
Dev followed a little later on still in a foul mood.
No one other than the eleven Gryffindor students seemed to notice the absence of Keara and Sirius. Everyone, however, noticed their sudden appearance in the Great Hall. It was hard to miss two teenagers running into the room and towards the Gryffindor table while the first one was shrieking because the second one was attempting to tickle her. They were half an hour late, but neither seemed to care, nor did they care about all the curious looks sent their way from the other students. Keara sat next to Devlynn giving him a loud kiss on the cheek as was her customary greeting for him and smiled. Sirius took his seat on her other side. Both were laughing uncontrollably about something Sirius had just told Keara.
"Did you know that Strider once got himself stuck in his own toy chest?" Keara grinned around at the gang. "He was stuck in it for two hours before his Mom finally found him." Sirius buried his face in his hands and groaned.
"So how come you never told us that story?" James smirked. "Going soft are we?"
"No," Sirius muttered. His face had turned bright red. "You aren't going to tell them everything else I told you are you?" Sirius glanced sideways at Keara.
"Of course not Pookie," she gave him a heart-melting smile. "That'd be cruel."
"Don't call me Pookie again," Sirius threatened while smiling knowing that it was hollow.
"Don't ever threaten her," Dev glared not caring that Sirius' threat was hollow.
"Drop it Dev," Keara said quietly. She had stopped smiling. "You're acting like a prick."
Dev stared as he watched her walk out of the Great Hall without having eaten.
"Nice going, Dev, trying to starve her as well as make her miserable?" Zeta muttered.
Dev hadn't heard him. He was too busy glaring at Sirius. "This is all your fault."
"How is it my fault? She was smiling while she was with me! You're the one who set her off," Sirius glared back.
"Everything was fine until you showed up at the castle." If looks could kill both Sirius and Devlynn would both have been dead and more than six feet under.
"Well, I'm not much wanted here. I think I'm gonna go down to the kitchens, get some food, and find Keara. She needs to eat," Sirius got up and left.
"Devlynn?" Lily asked cautiously.
"Hmm?" Dev was still staring at the doorway to the Great Hall.
"Does your sister hate Snape?"
"Yes," Dev answered absentmindedly. "'The bloody ugly git' as she calls him."
"Does she hate Malfoy?" Lily tried again.
"Yes, what does that have to do with anything?" Dev gave up watching the door and turned his full attention onto the conversation.
"Did she hate Fudge?" Harry asked, cottoning on to what Lily was doing.
"No she loves fudge actually," Dev looked confused.
"No you idiot! Not fudge as in the chocolate. Fudge as in the person!" Zeta snapped completely fed up with Dev's behavior over the past few days.
"Oh," Dev blushed. "Well yeah, she hated that he was a 'blind ignoramus' and nearly got everyone killed by insisting that Voldemort hadn't returned. And seriously. What does this have to do with anything? Or do I even want to know?" Dev began to get a feeling of dread. He didn't think he wanted to know where this conversation was going.
"Did she hate Lockhart?" Ron asked also catching on after catching Harry's look.
"Yes. She'd be an eejit not to. He was an airhead! Completely brainless! Dumbledore should have known."
"Then she seems to be a good judge of character," Lily concluded.
"Errr." Dev growled, suddenly understanding that he'd just been set up.
"Just try to get to know him. You might just like him. Or at least pretend to get along with him. That is if you don't want to lose your sister," James advised. "She likes him and you, yourself just proved her to be a good judge."
"Yeah, things could be worse. Keara could like Malfoy," Diablo put in helping the cause. He didn't like to see his best friend going ballistic over dumb reasons especially since he was normally the most level headed. He would have expected Zeta to act that way, but never Dev.
"Ech! I don't even want to think about that possibility," Dev looked completely disgusted. "I just ate." Everyone laughed and finally Dev began to join in as well.
Keara had conjured herself up a sweater to keep her warm in the colder temperature of the damp hallways and Sirius had insisted that she borrow his cloak as well when she started shivering even with the sweater. Sirius wasn't sure how long he and Keara had been wandering around, but they had added thirteen new passages and twenty-seven new rooms to the Map. One of the rooms, the one they were in at the moment, he assumed had to have been the one Filch always talked about; the one where they used to hang students from the ceiling or some other form of torture for detentions. That room had given Keara the willies as well as fascinated her. Another room seemed to be a storage room for potion ingredients, next to that one seemed to be Snape's quarters, which they decided to leave alone for now and explore later. He knew they must have been exploring for hours, but if anyone had asked he would have said it felt like mere minutes. They never realized that they had missed lunch. Nor did they realize that they had made the rest suspicious when they couldn't be found in the library and Madame Pince had said that they had never showed up.
"We should probably head back now. They'll start to worry about us soon," Keara whispered not really wanting to end her time alone with Sirius.
"Yeah, you're probably right," he agreed, but made no move to leave.
"Sirius?"
"Yeah?"
"The door's over there."
"I know."
"We should probably head that way."
"Yeah."
"Yeah," Keara smiled shyly. She really didn't have much experience with guys, but she was normally careful not to let anyone know that.
Sirius leaned down, kissed her gently, and smiled. "Good thing we got rid of the babysitter."
"Very good thing," she smiled back, kissed him and walked out the door. Sirius had no choice but to follow her.
~ * ~
"Where the hell is she?!" Dev was fuming. Keara hadn't turned up at lunch and neither had Sirius and dinner was supposed to start soon.
"Calm down, Dev," Diablo put his hand on Dev's shoulder only to have the shoulder be jerked away. "I'm sure she's okay. Sirius isn't out to hurt her."
"Oh, sure. He may not mean to hurt her but he will! She said that she was going to the Library. WELL, GUESS WHAT!! I was JUST there! Madame Pince said they were never there! I thought I told you to go with them!"
"I did."
"Then why did they never get to the library?" Dev growled.
"Because I left before they got there. Keara got on my nerves. I'm not her babysitter and I'm not your slave. I don't have to put up with her," Diablo retaliated and only managed to anger Dev further.
"I'm sure they'll turn up. They don't need a babysitter. Nor does your older sister need to tell you where she is every waking moment and who she's with. You are not her father," Zeta gave Dev a look that told him to act rationally or he'd make him.
"Sirius is my best friend, Dev. Use that as some consolation." James walked away praying that this behavior was out of character for the boy. Sirius sure knew the best ways to cause trouble. Unfortunately, James didn't think this trouble was a good thing. They needed to hurry up with this prank before Sirius got carried away and destroyed everything between Dev and Keara. They wanted to cause trouble, but that hadn't intended to tear people apart.
"I'm going to have a talk with her when she gets back," Dev muttered bitterly to himself.
"I'll see you at dinner, Dev. Hopefully you'll be in a better mood by then," Diablo took off after James and the rest of the gang and went down to the Great Hall to eat.
Dev followed a little later on still in a foul mood.
No one other than the eleven Gryffindor students seemed to notice the absence of Keara and Sirius. Everyone, however, noticed their sudden appearance in the Great Hall. It was hard to miss two teenagers running into the room and towards the Gryffindor table while the first one was shrieking because the second one was attempting to tickle her. They were half an hour late, but neither seemed to care, nor did they care about all the curious looks sent their way from the other students. Keara sat next to Devlynn giving him a loud kiss on the cheek as was her customary greeting for him and smiled. Sirius took his seat on her other side. Both were laughing uncontrollably about something Sirius had just told Keara.
"Did you know that Strider once got himself stuck in his own toy chest?" Keara grinned around at the gang. "He was stuck in it for two hours before his Mom finally found him." Sirius buried his face in his hands and groaned.
"So how come you never told us that story?" James smirked. "Going soft are we?"
"No," Sirius muttered. His face had turned bright red. "You aren't going to tell them everything else I told you are you?" Sirius glanced sideways at Keara.
"Of course not Pookie," she gave him a heart-melting smile. "That'd be cruel."
"Don't call me Pookie again," Sirius threatened while smiling knowing that it was hollow.
"Don't ever threaten her," Dev glared not caring that Sirius' threat was hollow.
"Drop it Dev," Keara said quietly. She had stopped smiling. "You're acting like a prick."
Dev stared as he watched her walk out of the Great Hall without having eaten.
"Nice going, Dev, trying to starve her as well as make her miserable?" Zeta muttered.
Dev hadn't heard him. He was too busy glaring at Sirius. "This is all your fault."
"How is it my fault? She was smiling while she was with me! You're the one who set her off," Sirius glared back.
"Everything was fine until you showed up at the castle." If looks could kill both Sirius and Devlynn would both have been dead and more than six feet under.
"Well, I'm not much wanted here. I think I'm gonna go down to the kitchens, get some food, and find Keara. She needs to eat," Sirius got up and left.
"Devlynn?" Lily asked cautiously.
"Hmm?" Dev was still staring at the doorway to the Great Hall.
"Does your sister hate Snape?"
"Yes," Dev answered absentmindedly. "'The bloody ugly git' as she calls him."
"Does she hate Malfoy?" Lily tried again.
"Yes, what does that have to do with anything?" Dev gave up watching the door and turned his full attention onto the conversation.
"Did she hate Fudge?" Harry asked, cottoning on to what Lily was doing.
"No she loves fudge actually," Dev looked confused.
"No you idiot! Not fudge as in the chocolate. Fudge as in the person!" Zeta snapped completely fed up with Dev's behavior over the past few days.
"Oh," Dev blushed. "Well yeah, she hated that he was a 'blind ignoramus' and nearly got everyone killed by insisting that Voldemort hadn't returned. And seriously. What does this have to do with anything? Or do I even want to know?" Dev began to get a feeling of dread. He didn't think he wanted to know where this conversation was going.
"Did she hate Lockhart?" Ron asked also catching on after catching Harry's look.
"Yes. She'd be an eejit not to. He was an airhead! Completely brainless! Dumbledore should have known."
"Then she seems to be a good judge of character," Lily concluded.
"Errr." Dev growled, suddenly understanding that he'd just been set up.
"Just try to get to know him. You might just like him. Or at least pretend to get along with him. That is if you don't want to lose your sister," James advised. "She likes him and you, yourself just proved her to be a good judge."
"Yeah, things could be worse. Keara could like Malfoy," Diablo put in helping the cause. He didn't like to see his best friend going ballistic over dumb reasons especially since he was normally the most level headed. He would have expected Zeta to act that way, but never Dev.
"Ech! I don't even want to think about that possibility," Dev looked completely disgusted. "I just ate." Everyone laughed and finally Dev began to join in as well.